I'm Here For You
by Fae 206
Summary: When Yuzuyu comes back to her home to find out that her mother has committed suicide, her world is broken again and so she turns to the person who has always helped her find her strength. With a family of his own though, is Kippei really ready to take on such a large task and how will Kippei be able to bring a smile to Yuzuyu's face when she's lost so much. Manga Ending.
1. Chapter 1

**AN:** This chapter is about half the length as I want to make the other chapters but it's supposed to get you hooked to reading 😉 I haven't actually read this manga in its complete form for some time but hopefully I will have read it before the second chapter 😊 Thank you for the support.

 **I'm Here For You**

 **Chapter One**

Of course it would be raining, it wasn't a surprise that after a night like this it would be raining. Her mother had promised her that she would stay with her for always and that she would always have a home to come back to. She had believed in that promise since she was five years old because she hadn't had a reason to think otherwise. Still, the words given to a five-year-old could still be empty.

Yuzuyu didn't know why she had come here. She had done so without thinking and now she was sitting on the doorstep of a man's home who might find her an inconvenience to his happy life. He had married the girl that he had fallen for in high school and they had a daughter together. Yuki.

She shouldn't have come here but she wanted someone to talk to and she didn't want to talk to the police officers. This was someone who had helped her with her tears during the time when she was only a little kid. Hopefully he wouldn't have becoming disgusted with her as an adult. She pulled her knees to her chin and placed her forehead down on them. She heard the sound of laughter and nervously curled up tighter. She shouldn't have come here but the blood, the pain, everything was still so raw.

"Mommy!" a small girl said happily, "There's a woman here."

"Huh?" Kokoro asked before she stood facing the woman who was ten years her junior, she crouched down. "So there is," she said before reaching a hand out and as Yuzuyu lifted her head Kokoro smiled to her. "Hi," she smiled softly. "This is a surprise," she studied her further, something was wrong. "Are you okay? You remember me, right?"

"I do," Yuzuyu sniffed despite the fact that she hadn't seen Yuki since she was a baby and that was because she was doing some kind of club activity trip in this area. They wrote more letters to one another more than actually seen one another but they had sent photographs and she saw Kippei on the news in his job as a talk show host. He was really good at that because of his natural charisma.

"Let's go inside, I'll make us some tea," Kokoro told her gently before unlocking the door for them. "Yuki, this is your aunt Yuzuyu-chan, she's on your Dad's side," she said and Yuki bowed politely. "Come on, you can tell me what happened," she said although something felt very ominous here. She sighed as she held the door open and saw how shaky Yuzuyu was. "Do you need to go to the hospital, are you okay? Sit down, please make yourself at home, Kippei should be back soon."

Yuzuyu shivered and let her head drop, "My mother's dead," she told her and Kokoro froze.

She heard a sound from another room and she froze, looking up with wide eyes at Kokoro who laughed as she went to start the tea.

"Since Kippei is the oldest son, we wanted to live with his parents, your aunt and uncle. We made the house a little bit bigger and Reiko-chan doesn't live here any more but it's nice having a big family," she froze before looking down remembering her own pain when she thought about her mother. She looked at her. "Kippei didn't tell me that your mother had passed away. I'm really sorry about tha-"

"Kokoro, dear. Watch the house," a voice said in a hurry and Kokoro turned instantly to see Misako grabbing her keys and her bag. "There's been an emergency."

"O-Okay," Kokoro nodded before looking at her mother-in-law. Things started to click in her head and she grabbed Misako's arm gently. "Yuzuyu-chan is here," she whispered and Misako turned towards the pale teenage girl who was sitting at the table. This was starting to become apparent to her now and Kokoro adopted a much more serious expression. "Is this -"

"My sister is reported dead after a suicide attempt," Misako whispered and Kokoro looked at her absolutely horrified. She heard the keys in the lock and turned to see her husband with a panicked look on his face. She went towards him and felt his body shaking.

"Mom, it's Aunt Miyako," he said in a rushed voice, "I just heard. One of the people at the station just contacted me. I have to get down there." He said and Kokoro took his hand, she put a hand to his shoulder and gestured to the table where Yuzuyu was looking more and more like a ghost at every point. He walked over to her, unsure of how to approach her.

"Hi," he said with a pained expression on his face trying to make his movements slow and to not scare her. He pulled out a chair to sit opposite her. "Yuzu?" he asked and instantly tears were flowing freely from her eyes.

"Kippei-nii!" she exclaimed before hugging him close, her tears dampening his shirt and he held her close, pulling her to him. This felt so familiar to both of them. Kippei pressed his lips to the top of her head as she shivered, finally realizing the pain in her heart.

"You'll be okay," he whispered, "We'll make sure you're okay. I'm a lot smarter than I was when I was in high school and a lot more attu-"

Kokoro shook her head, telling him that he should just stop speaking and Kippei nodded. He tucked a few strands of Yuzuyu's hair behind her ear as he sat there with her. She buried her face into his shoulder as she felt her own world shatter, breaking down into thousands of pieces.

"Thank you, Kippei-nii," she whispered and he nodded. Hopefully he would be able to help her get through this time. He couldn't believe that she would just be left behind once again but he loved her, his family loved her. Hopefully she would be able to see the brightness in the world again.

 **End of Chapter One**

 **Thank you for reading**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

Kokoro hesitated as she watched Kippei attempt to comfort Yuzu. Kokoro had flashes of life before her own mother but there was one major difference between her situation and Yuzuyu's and it was a very important one. Kokoro's mother hadn't died of suicide and she hadn't left behind a daughter. Kokoro didn't feel it her place to ask Yuzu and she trusted that Kippei had gained enough sense to realize that asking would be inappropriate.

She turned towards Yuki who was watching her father a little confused and scooped her daughter up. Despite how happy her own family was together, they needed to give Yuzu some space with Kippei. Kippei was one of the people she trusted the most and she had come here for him. "Let's make a special snack," she said to her daughter as she felt nervous about the situation. She wasn't sure what to say and she hoped that Kippei would say the right things.

Yuzu pulled out of the embrace that Kippei had her in and she dabbed at her eyes, still looking like a ghost. She saw Kippei tilt his head to the side as he watched her. What were even the right words to say in a situation like this one? Hey, I'm sorry that your Mom killed herself but I'll make sure that you're okay. Kippei had always known that his aunt suffered emotionally from things others might have considered normal but he hadn't expected for this to happen.

"Thank you," Yuzu bowed her head and Kippei shook his. He felt terrible that he didn't know how to comfort her. "You've always been there for me. I don't mean to burden you," she dabbed at her eyes and Misako stepped forwards.

"Yuzuyu," Misako told her niece, trying to hide her own pain from the teenager. Yuzuyu needed support, a death in the family was something that affected the children of the individual the most and Misako felt selfish if she started crying for her deceased sister in front of her. "Please stay for as long as you feel that you need to. We're here for you. I'll go and prepare the guest room, is there anything that I can bring you or get for you?"

"I…I left clothes back…" Yuzuyu whispered and then her body froze. She didn't want to go back to that house. The blood was enough to see at one time, she didn't want to return and have those memories deepen and the wound become deeper against her heart. She wouldn't be able to deal with that.

Kippei stood, "I'll go. I know where it is from when I visited the last time," he said and felt Yuzuyu reach out to grab his shirt. She didn't want for him to leave. She wanted the same big brother that she had depended on when she was only a child.

Misako shook her head, "I'll go," she told him and Kippei opened his mouth to protest. "It's kind of you to want to go but I think you're needed here," she told her son and Kippei looked guilty. It was the son's responsibility when things like this came and he was providing a burden to his mother by not taking responsibility and doing what society asked of him.

Kippei nodded silently and Yuzu wrapped her arms around him again. He sighed softly as he pulled her close. She needed somebody there with her and he only hoped that he could be enough for her. It had been a long time since the days when she was under his care. He didn't want to push her through anything uncomfortable for her but he didn't know what to do. There was nothing that he could say to make this better.

…..

…..

Yuzuyu couldn't sleep. Every time she closed her eyes she would have horrible flashes to the blood and the body and she didn't know if she would ever be psychologically stable again. What did it take to get over that? She didn't want to tell Kippei about the gory details because he might send her to a hospital and even if he didn't, his view of her would be completely changed. She stared at the ceiling above her before shivering and standing up, walking out of the room and into the hallway.

She was shocked when she saw Yuki standing there staring at her. How long had the little girl been out of bed? Yuzu took a shaky breath in and came to kneel down in front of the small girl. She smiled at the teddy bear that she was holding. It wasn't the same as the one Yuzu had left behind but it did remind her of it. Of course Kippei and Kokoro would do whatever was in her power to give her a good life.

"Hi," she said and Yuki bowed her head.

"Hi," she whispered nervously and Yuzu looked to her remembering how much love and support Kippei had given Yuzu throughout her own childhood.

"I really like your bear," Yuzu gestured and Yuki smiled happily. She kissed the bears head and Yuzu thought back to when she was playing with Marika and Marika had wanted to play with dolls and all that Yuzu had had was this bear, her special bear from her mother.

"I like him too," Yuki said with a smile. "He's called Beary," she said and Yuzu smiled very weakly.

"Beary, it's nice to meet you," she forced herself to say. This little girl didn't know what was going on, she didn't understand what had happened regarding Yuzu's mother. She probably saw how upset her father was and how worried he was and when that came to a child's parents it sometimes made them feel uncomfortable. Yuzu needed to shield these emotions from this little girl.

"Why are you here?" Yuki asked bluntly.

"Because your daddy helped me in the past and he's kind enough to do it again," Yuzuyu whispered as she looked down sadly. She wondered whether relying on Kippei wasn't right. She had run to someone comforting but she hadn't been a major part of his life apart from that one time during her childhood. He had been a teenager then, same as she was and she definitely didn't feel ready to take on the job of taking care of a child. She was selfish. She had run to him because she had thought that he would solve her problems, she never intended to be part of them.

"Yuki?" a sleepy Kippei said as he approached the two of them. "You're not supposed to be out of bed. How are you going to get your beauty sleep if you're not in bed," he yawned as he picked her up and cuddled her close. He turned to Yuzu sadly. "You couldn't sleep?" he asked and Yuzu nodded.

"Daddy, she said she liked my bear," Yuki told him and Kippei thought about the bear that he had always kept safely to remind him of his time with Yuzuyu. He had wanted to keep her but that had been selfish of him and that's why he had given her her shoes. She needed to be with his mother. He just wished that he had seen the transition go a bit more smoothly. If he had known that this would have happened, he would have tried to provide more support for his aunt and cousin.

"Yeah, when Yuzuyu-chan was little she had a toy bear just like yours," Kippei told her and Yuzuyu nodded. "I'm going to get Yuki back to bed and then we can talk," he told her and Yuzuyu began to stand, she opened her mouth and before she could protest Kippei shook his head. "I can't get back to sleep either."

"Is that okay?" Yuzuyu asked as she studied him. Kippei always worked hard and so did Kokoro, they also took care of Kippei's parents and the house that they lived in. She was being too much of a burden here. She bit her top lip and Kippei shook his head. He didn't want to hear her apologize, if this had happened to him he didn't know how he could cope with it.

"Do you remember that one time when you made a bento for me and you brought it to me and watched me eat it?" he asked her and Yuzuyu nodded. That was a great memory for her and she was a little surprised that Kippei had brought it up. "It always made me feel special. I want to make sure to do some special things for you too." He turned to her. "Also, don't force yourself to smile if you don't feel like it, it'll make you feel worse," he advised.

Yuzu watched him, "Should I wait right here?" she asked and Kippei shook his head.

"Meet me in the kitchen, I'll make us some tea and we can talk a little," he said. Yuzuyu nodded and Kippei turned his full attention back to Yuki. "And you, you trouble maker, need to get back to bed." He kissed the top of her head and Yuki giggled. Kippei really was a great guy.

 **End of Chapter Two**

 **Thank you for reading, reviews are appreciated**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

Kippei stared at the tea as he poured it into the cup for Yuzuyu. He had felt that he would have had a couple more years of experience being a father before he had to sit down for any more tough conversations but this was what he had to do in life. Well, the other thing that he wanted to do was to upgrade the house so that it could accommodate his parents and their family. That was the role of the son right, looking after the parents.

He sighed and dropped his head. Right now was too much of a sensitive time to be thinking about dumb stuff like home renovations. Yuzuyu had lost her mother for the second time and this time it was permanent. With a deep inhale, Kippei put a few snacks on the tray and brought it to the kitchen.

"You know," he grinned to Yuzuyu who was still looking tortured making Kippei hide his smile quickly, "I never really knew much about cooking and preparing meals until you came and lived here. Now I can prepare quality meals for young princesses.

"Yuki is really lucky," Yuzu said as she took the cup and Kippei took a deep breath to steady himself. He was surprised that Yuzuyu was even at the point of health that she was. If this had been anyone else then they would be tearfully sobbing and trying to run away. It only proved how strong she had grown up to be.

"Yuzu," Kippei said as he looked at the table. "I'm really sorry. I'm sorry that this happened and that I can't say anything that will change it but Kokoro and I…we're going to be here for anything that you need and….if you need to stay here for a bit, try to grieve then we'll help with that."

Yuzuyu nodded before she felt sick again and she shivered, tears starting to roll down her face and Kippei moved over to her, wrapping her up in a hug. People shouldn't have to go through the type of things that she was enduring right now. Mothers weren't supposed to just die and to leave this world and again, the blond didn't know what to do.

"I messed up, I messed it all up," she sobbed and Kippei pulled her close.

"You didn't mess anything up," he tried to promise her and she sobbed painfully. Kippei looked up to see Kokoro watching the two of them. She wasn't sure whether to approach them and become part of the situation or not. During the times when Yuzuyu was a small child, there were times when the two of them had gotten along but there were other times when Yuzuyu didn't want anything to do with her.

"We can do it, right?" Kippei tried to smile confidently and Kokoro nodded.

"Yuzu, whatever we can do, we'd like to help with," she said before rubbing Kippei's back. At least he wasn't still that clueless guy from high school who took pride in being called an idiot. He was more mature and a great husband and father and though there might not be much that either of them could do right at that moment, Kokoro trusted that Kippei would help Yuzu back onto her feet.

"Let's focus on the good things that we can do," Kokoro commented and Kippei looked at her confused. "We can honor the good in your mother's life. The happy memories that the two of you shared."

"Your mo-mo-mother?" Yuzu asked from where Kippei was keeping her in a tight familial embrace.

"Yes. I often found that by celebrating my mother I could find peace in her being gone. The pain is still raw and hollow. We need to figure out what to do with that. Then we figure out how to remember your mother." Kokoro advised.

"Right. So we need pictures and some papers and…" Kippei said as he tried to figure out how they could do that on the grandest scale. Kokoro shook her head and turned to Yuzuyu, she put a hand to her shoulder.

"It's something Yuzuyu needs to tell us how to help her with. It might be something subtle or it might be something very big. We'll know whenever Yuzuyu is ready," Kokoro said and Kippei nodded slowly. He sighed as he tried to focus. He was impressed with how well Yuzuyu was coping with this but maybe she was still in shock. That was probably it. Maybe in the morning they would have to be stronger together for her.

…..

…..

Misako was putting together the things that they needed for the memorial service and then making plans to bury her sister right next to Yuzuyu's father. Her sister had always wanted for this man and had felt nervous about supporting herself. Misako was scared about that. She never had felt that tied to her husband and despite the love she had for her family, she all wanted them to independently thrive in their lives.

She tried to dry her eyes as she looked over the prices for the different services. She took some deep breaths as she then focused on the will. Most things would go to Yuzuyu as her only child but there were some things that needed to be paid for as well and Misako was attempting to balance the money. She didn't even notice when a cup of tea was placed before her on the table.

She blinked before pushing a hand through her hair, "Thank you, Kippei," she said and Kokoro sighed and sat down with her own cup of tea.

"Kippei told me that today was Daddy duty or some weird thing," Kokoro commented before looking at the papers. She turned to Misako and reached out for them. "Did you need any help. I'm not a lawyer but I always got great grades and I want to help. I can't even imagine the -"

"It's okay. It's okay," Misako said quickly before taking a sip of the tea. "Kippei, he's performing well as a husband and father, isn't he?"

"He makes me excited to get up every morning. Every moment I spend with him, I feel loved. I feel safe and secure and protected in numerous ways when Kippei is beside me so, yes, as childish as he might act from time to time, he's doing well in his role."

"I'm glad," Misako nodded, she started to cry a little and Kokoro looked at her with great sympathy in her expression. She wanted to do something but she was a little nervous about doing anything in this situation without it being explained to her first. She definitely didn't want to intrude on such an important family matter.

"Kokoro-chan," Misako said and Kokoro shifted but nodded with a gentle hum, "Kippei is incredibly lucky to have you," she said and Kokoro blushed as she looked down silently, "We are all lucky to have you. I hope that you know that. I hope that you would never -"

"I will never leave Yuki," Kokoro promised, "and I would never do anything to intentionally hurt Kippei either. I'm glad that we all get to live together," she said and Misako nodded. Misako sighed before tapping the pen on the paper she was writing on. She hummed nervously and Kokoro tilted her head to the side.

"Do you think that you could do a huge favor for me?" Misako asked and Kokoro paused. She nodded slowly, trusting that her mother-in-law wouldn't task her with anything too difficult. "I need for you to go and see someone. Let them know in person about the death but I would do it…maybe it's better that I do it….it would be asking far too much of you."

Kokoro stood and put her palm on the surface of the table, "Let me do it," she said with a determined smile, the type that Kippei would always call cute and tease her about. Still there was a fire in her eyes that showed her passion. "Who is it that you'd like for me to go and see?"

"Nashiya-san," Misako told her.

 **End of Chapter Three**

 **Thank you for reading, reviews are appreciated**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

Kokoro looked down at the slip of paper that was for the address of the boy around Yuzuyu's age. Kokoro recognized the name from Kippei's stories of when he had been taking care of Yuzuyu in the beginning. Kokoro had always had friends but she hadn't connected with them on a deep level. She often wondered whether things would have been different if she had done so. Would it have been easier for her to release her pain before Kippei? Probably but it was when she was _with_ Kippei that she had learned to be most happy.

She walked forward to the house and knocked on the door. They didn't know her. She was a stranger in their lives and yet it seemed that their fate had been connected that day. They wanted the same thing, right? For Yuzuyu to be happy even though that wouldn't happen for a long time. Losing one's mother wasn't something that was easy to stop the hurt of. Kokoro still felt the hurt of her own.

Going out to answer the door, Nashiya-san stood and faced Kokoro. "Hello?" she asked as she tucked a strand of her brown hair behind her ear, her face still showing her exhaustion despite it having been years since she had fought her own demons in the mistreatment of Shouta. "Can I…help you with something?" she asked and Kokoro bowed.

"I'm Katakura Kokoro," she said and the woman looked at her with a blank expression. Kokoro paused and shifted, "I'm married to Katakura Kip-"

"Ah, so you're the woman that boy married. I've seen him on the TV," she said and Kokoro shifted. Of course people knew Kippei, he wasn't someone that was easy to forget. She took a deep breath in. She needed to do this for Yuzu's sake. She had fallen in love with Kippei due to how much he loved Yuzuyu and the type of care and affection that he had given her. He still had his same amazing heart.

"Yes," Kokoro smiled. "I married him. However, I think that Yuzuyu-chan would benefit a lot from being able to talk to your son, if that's at all possible. I am sure that you've heard about the passing of -"

"Such a sad thing that happened. I can't understand why a mother would really go through with it," Nashiya-san said and Kokoro bit her tongue. She could understand how mother's didn't really think about the world around them but that wasn't her place to say. All that she could do was hope to create a happy world for Yuki to live within.

"Would it be possible for him to visit?" Kokoro asked with a tilt of her head. "I don't mind driving him home afterwards but if it cou-"

"I'll talk to Shota," Nashiya-san agreed and Kokoro smiled slightly. Maybe there was more that she could do to increase Yuzuyu's happiness but this was a start. The Katakura family was also devastated. Although they all had feelings about their aunt that they found disrespectful to vocalize, Kippei and his siblings were still her niece and nephews. Misako was still the sister that she had left behind.

All of this proved to Kokoro that the best thing that she could continue to do for Yuki was to live for her even when the world seemed impossible to navigate. She would try to help Yuzuyu but that didn't mean that she couldn't be selfish and prioritize the two who meant most to her. Despite her love for her father and the way that his new wife had accepted her and the family, Kippei and Yuki were her home and her family. She wanted happiness for Yuki and she never wanted for her to suffer the hardships that Yuzuyu was going through.

…..

…..

"You don't seem yourself, Katakura" Matsumoto – one of the writers for the show – said as he put a hand on Kippei's shoulder and the blond immediately sat up straighter in his seat. Matsumoto laughed. "Were you really just zoning out? Don't lie to me," he chuckled and Kippei looked at him sadly.

"My aunt died," he said and Matsumoto paused before sitting down.

"That's no fun. A dead relative is nothing to take lightly. Good for you on being here though, when did she pass?" he asked and Kippei sighed.

"Recently," he admitted before looking forward. "A suicide," he blurted out and Matsumoto swallowed slowly. That type of death was the hardest to handle because you could never figure out whether anything you did would have helped in that situation.

"Sorry to hear, how's your family coping?" he asked and Kippei looked at him with a sad smile and sighed. Maybe he was feeling okay, sad definitely but he would recover and his mother was devastated at the loss of her sister. However, that was nothing compared to the emptiness that Yuzuyu was feeling.

"My cousin isn't doing so great. I think this is the type of thing that traumatizes someone and it's not like she's a little kid anymore. I can't do any of the tricks that I did before when her mother left her. She's already been abandoned once. If I had known that this would…no, it's better that she spent the time with her that she did," Kippei reasoned to himself and Matsumoto nodded.

"You babysat her?" he asked and Kippei shook his head.

"I was more than that. She was my little sister in a way, my responsibility. It's how I managed to start caring for Yuki so easily but she's not a little girl anymore and I can't treat her like one. I have to really think of the best way in which to help her," Kippei mused and Matsumoto nodded.

"To me it feels that you won't know unless you ask her," Matsumoto commented and Kippei sighed and bowed his head. It felt right what he was saying but Kippei was a fan of the quick fix so that people could go back to smiling. With this problem though, it would be a miracle if Yuzu was able to get such a strong smile back in the future. He just never wanted Yuki to feel this pain and he wanted to protect Kokoro.

If Yuzuyu's father could tell them his thoughts on this would it be condemning his wife for abandoning their precious daughter or would he act the way Kippei imagined himself to act and blame himself for causing so much pain.

…..

…

When Kippei returned home, he pulled out his key but as he put it to the lock, he saw a teenage boy standing in front of the house. He appeared pretty familiar and yet Kippei couldn't work it out. He looked at the house again and then turned to the boy. "Are you at the right address?" he asked and the boy nodded. "Okay, what's your name?"

"Nashiya Shota," he replied and Kippei pointed a finger at him as he realized why the boy looked so familiar. He had definitely seen him as a child because he was Yuzu's closest friend.

"That's why you look familiar," he said and Shota looked at him. Somehow, although Kippei had changed much less than the younger male, Shota's face showed that he didn't remember who this was. Shota looked at the door again and Kippei calmed down, his face becoming more somber.

"Come on," he gestured to him as he unlocked and opened the door. "Hopefully you'll be able to help her."

 **End of Chapter Four**

 **Thank you for reading**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

Kippei looked in the direction of where Shota had entered. It made him feel old when he remembered how young that boy had once been and how he had played with Yuzuyu during that small but very important time when he took care of her. However, time separated people greatly and Kippei needed to invest more time in Yuki.

"So," Kokoro said as she came over to Kippei and set a hot cup of tea in front of him, she poured some milk into it and saw him turning it in his hands, looking at the way the milk shift changed the color and design of the top layer of milk in the cup. "Do you think that the two of them will be okay?"

"I don't know," Kippei said very worried and turned to his wife. He opened his lips but then bowed his head again, his fingers wrapping around the cup. He bowed his head and sighed. There were too many questions in his mind, too many details that he was having trouble figuring out. Then there was that huge question or rather two huge questions.

"If you want to say something," Kokoro said bluntly as she sat down next to him and took a sip of her own drink, "You should just say so. Nothing's going to get done with you avoiding the subject."

"Do you think that Yuki is going to be okay?" the male said as he studied his own cup.

Kokoro sighed and looked in the direction Yuzu was again. She didn't think that Yuki would be a child who would judge or get scared off easily. Yuki loved showing how brave and understanding she could be and she always tried to be a leader in the group activities with her friends. She got that from her father. Kokoro placed a hand on Kippei's shoulder, "No. I think that Yuki is going to be just fine. Yuzuyu would never want to cause harm to her."

"If I died though…." Kippei trailed off and Kokoro hated the haunted look in his eyes. Yuzuyu's father had died all of those years ago and her mother had left her alone to be taken in by relatives and it was a good thing that she had had Kippei. However, Yuzyu's mother had then taken her own life. Kokoro didn't want to think that she could be capable of doing something so cruel to Yuki.

"If you died," Kokoro glared at him slightly but then let the hurt seep into her eyes. "I would be in extreme pain and so would Yuki. We'd have to depend on each other and the rest of our family. However, I know," Kippei saw that spark of confidence that he just adored in Kokoro's eye. "I know that we'd live with your memory beside us. I could not abandon Yuki. You are a part of her and she would be living a life that you gave to her. I hope I didn't marry someone stupid enough to expect me to die with them."

Kippei sighed, "You always tease me that I'm stupid," he commented and Kokoro looked at him with a neutral expression, waiting until he was done with his pouting. "I want you to know that if you died, I'd give Yuki the best life possible."

"That's a good thing," Kokoro said. She stood but kissed Kippei on the top of his head again. He was her provider, her hero, she felt so lucky that it was her that he had chose but he never seemed to take it for granted and she wondered how special he felt that _she_ had chosen _him_ as well.

"I think that we need to make out another will," Kippei said and Kokoro paused. She leaned down and put a hand on Kippei's cheek with a serious expression.

"You are _not_ going anywhere yet," she told him in a manner that he couldn't argue against. Even if he couldn't promise her he wouldn't die, he felt unable to promise anything but his own survival.

…

…

"How are you feeling?" Shota asked as he looked at Yuzu with a great deal of concern. He sat next to her and held her hand but she seemed broken to him. Yuzuyu was one of the most important people in his life but he understood why she wasn't the same optimistic Yuzuyu she had once been. He saw her shaking and he wrapped his arms around her. "Do you want to talk?"

"What did I do wrong, Shota?" Yuzuyu asked in a very broken and strange manner, she ran her fingers through her hair and panicked, her body shaking. "What did I do?" she asked again and felt that she was going to break. Her mother was gone and she was here and pretending to be okay. She just wanted to die and be with her mother but she was scared. Her body would always kick into survival mode if she even though about it.

"You didn't do anything," Shota tried to tell her. "'Lots of people love you. People just…make mistakes?"

"I..I don't know how killing yourself can be a mistake," Yuzu shivered and she fell onto her side but Shota moved her head onto his lap so that he could rub her back. Despite them not being siblings, their friendship carried very deep bonds where he could act like this and she would feel comforted. "You don't kill yourself and call it a mistake."

"She did something stupid," Shota said and Yuzu looked at him, tears in her eyes.

"She's my mother," she said and Shota paused. Shota nervously put a hand to his cheek remembering when he had been hurt as a kid but he had continued to love his mother. He had learned how to stand up for himself and to conquer his own negative emotions but his mother hadn't killed herself like Yuzuyu's had.

"And my mother made mistakes as well," Shota told her and Yuzuyu struggled to breathe. Shota pulled her closer. "I love you, Yuzu," he told her and Yuzuyu blinked but she didn't want to react to that. She didn't pull away however and Shota felt comfort from that. She wasn't ready to take such a leap with him of course but hopefully he could provide for her a reason to keep living and to keep fighting.

"I love you too, Shota," Yuzu said, "but…"

"You don't need to say anything else," Shota told her before he held to her hand and squeezed it. "Please don't. I didn't say it to get any kind of response but I just want you to know that I'd be really lonely if you weren't here. I want you to be here," Shota tried to stress and Yuzu blinked.

"You'll be there when things get too hard to breathe?" she asked him and Shota nodded firmly.

"Of course," he told her and Yuzu looked at him as the knight she had seen him as since they were young children. "I've got you on this. I'm here for you."

Yuzyu smiled very timidly and closed her eyes, "Thank you, Shota. I'm here for you too."

 **End of Chapter Five**

 **Thank you for reading, reviews are appreciated**


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